difficult child comes home tomorrow

She was at my sister in law's in NY for a few days, along with easy child 2. It's been a relaxing few days with easy child 1 and my 7 y.o. nephew. As much as I can't wait to see my girls, I'm dreading the first meltdown from difficult child, which most definitely will occur in the car on the way home. I know she saves her "best" worst behavior for me because she feels the safest around me, but why oh why can't I have just one day with her without any tantrums?

What a big trip for a little girl. Try pampering by setting up the car seat with lots of pillows and having cold water bottles and a healthy snack ready for the ride home. Have a favorite toy waiting on the car seat and another ready to pull out when you feel the tension rising (don't give right away).

I remember when I was a very little girl and visited relatives for a few weeks. We were brought back as far as one relative's home late at night with plans to go home the next day. My sisters and I couldn't stand knowing how close to home we were and started crying so our aunt called our parents to come get us. We enjoyed our visit but was so looking forward to home.

It was a wonderful break for me and easy child 1, and I was relatively calm when the **** hit the fan 15 minutes into our ride home and handled it without losing my cool. It was so good to see difficult child and easy child 2, but easy child 1 was definitely not happy to have them back. She liked having the toys to herself.

Yup, some time away can make one able to handle things better. in my humble opinion, this is true in every aspect of our lives. I feel myself start to spiral a bit when I have not had any down time or time alone.